Ukraine conflict: Skyscraper in Kiev badly hit in attacks - Ukraine speaks of thousands of dead soldiers

Created: 02/27/2022Updated: 02/27/2022 07:13

By: Johannes Nuß, Andreas Schmid

In the Ukraine conflict, Russian troops have reached Kiev.

The capital reported several explosions, a skyscraper was hit by a rocket.

All information in the news ticker.

• The Ukraine conflict* continues.

  Russian troops are apparently advancing to Kiev.

• In the Ukrainian capital, a skyscraper was hit by a rocket

  (update from February 26, 9:15 a.m.)

  .

• This

  news ticker about the events in Ukraine

  is no longer updated.

  All information on the Ukraine war can be found on our topic page on the Ukraine conflict* and in our current news ticker.

Update from February 26, 9:15 a.m .:

A skyscraper in the capital Kiev was hit in heavy attacks by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Pictures of the skyscraper clearly showed an impact on the upper floors.

At least four floors on one side of the house were destroyed.

Smoke rose.

It was initially unclear what exactly had happened and whether there were victims.

According to the Ukrainian government, the situation in the capital Kiev is under control.

However, the Russian attackers tried to bring the largest possible number of military technology and armed forces into the city, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolak on Saturday, according to the Unian agency.

Russian saboteurs are active in the city, against whom Ukrainian security forces have successfully taken action.

In the outskirts, Ukrainian troops fought against the Russian invaders.

"Both in the city itself and on the outskirts of Kiev, the situation is under control," said Podolak on the current status of the Ukraine conflict.

The hit skyscraper in Kiev.

© HANDOUT/afp

Ukraine conflict: 3,500 Russian soldiers are said to have been killed

February 26 update, 8:40 a.m.:

The Ukrainian armed forces say they have inflicted heavy casualties on Russian troops since the invasion began.

3,500 Russian soldiers were killed and 200 others captured, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.

In addition, 14 aircraft, eight helicopters and 102 tanks and more than 530 other military vehicles were destroyed.

The information cannot be independently verified.

According to Russia, since the beginning of the war against Ukraine on Thursday, a total of more than 800 Ukrainian military objects have been "out of action".

This was announced by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Saturday morning in Moscow.

This information cannot be independently verified.

According to Konashenkov, 14 military airfields, 19 command posts, 24 S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems and 48 radar stations were destroyed.

In addition, eight Ukrainian Navy boats were hit.

Konashenkov also said that separatist fighters from the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk have now advanced about 30 kilometers into an area previously controlled by Ukrainian government troops.

With Russian support, Donetsk fighters could have gained more terrain over six kilometers.

On Friday evening it was said that the insurgents had advanced 25 kilometers further into Ukrainian-controlled territory.

All background information on the Ukraine conflict can be found here.

Ukraine conflict: Authorities warn of street fighting

Update from February 26, 7.45 a.m .:

The Ukrainian authorities in Kiev are warning of street fighting in the capital given the Russian invasion.

“Combat operations are now raging on the streets of our city.

We ask you to keep calm and be as careful as possible!" It said in the message on Saturday.

Anyone who is in a bunker should stay there.

In the event of an air alert, people should go to the nearest bunker.

The city released a map about it.

"If you're at home, don't go to the window, don't go on the balconies." People should also cover themselves to protect themselves from injuries.

Ukraine conflict: explosions and shots in Kiev - This happened on Saturday night

Update from February 26, 7.30 a.m .:

Russia's war against Ukraine could be in the decisive phase, the Ukrainian military reported many battles during the night.

That happened on Saturday night.

Update from February 26, 6:15 a.m .:

Russian troops fired on a barracks of the Ukrainian armed forces in the west of Kiev on Saturday night.

This was announced by the Ukrainian army.

The attack was repulsed.

The barracks are about seven kilometers from the center of the metropolis.

Photos showed bright firelight over the scene of the fighting.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard in videos shared on social networks.

Update from February 26, 6:10 a.m .:

With an airborne operation, Russian troops are apparently trying to take control of the Wassylkiv military airport south of Kiev.

Ukrainian soldiers were killed and injured in the fierce fighting, the mayor of the small town, Nataliya Balasynowych, told Ukrainian media on Saturday night.

Many Russian paratroopers had landed.

"We have casualties.

We have many injuries.

It's 200, unfortunately," she said.

The air base is located about 40 kilometers from the center of Kiev.

Ukraine conflict: Ukrainian military fends off Russian attacks

Update from February 26, 4:40 a.m.:

When trying to advance further in Kiev, the Russian armed forces encounter resistance.

According to the Ukrainian military, an attack on one of the positions in Kiev was repelled.

The attack was carried out at night on a post on Kiev's Victory Road, the land forces wrote on their Facebook page.

Kiev Victory Street is one of the main thoroughfares in the Ukrainian capital.

Further information on the battles and the location could not be found.

The Ukrainian military is trying to hold the fort in Kiev.

Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to advance in Kiev.

© Emilio Morenatti/dpa

Update from February 26, 2:55 a.m .:

The state Ukrainian service for special communications announced early on Saturday morning that there were currently clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces in an eastern suburb of the capital Kiev.

“The enemy is trying to attack CHP-6 near Troieschyna.

The armed forces are engaged in a battle,” the service tweeted.

Ukraine conflict: CNN reporters report loud explosions in west and south of Kiev

Reporters from the US television network CNN reported loud explosions in the west and south of Kiev, with the sky lit up by a series of lightning bolts on the horizon.

Update from February 26, 1:49 a.m .:

There is fierce fighting around the city of Vasylkiv, around 30 kilometers south of the capital Kiev.

This is reported by the Ukrainian armed forces.

"Heavy fighting is currently taking place in the city of Vasylkiv in the Kiev region, where the occupiers are trying to land a landing party," it said on the night.

Update from February 26, 1:39 a.m .:

As reported by CNN at night, the Ukrainian capital shook a series of detonations.

It is not yet possible to say what type of explosion it was or where exactly it took place.

It is now just after 2:30 local time in Ukraine.

People are afraid.

Ukraine conflict: Ukrainian forces shoot down Russian transport plane

Update from February 26, 00:57:

The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have shot down a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft.

Russian paratroopers were on board, wrote the Ukrainian chief of staff Valery Saluschnyj on Twitter on Saturday night.

He named the city of Wassylkiv south of the capital Kiev as the crash site.

The information was not independently verifiable.

The Ukrainian air force command announced that the Russian army was trying to drop parachute troops in Vasylkiv.

There are heavy fights.

An illuminated window of an apartment building in Kiev, whose lights are switched off for security reasons.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy expects the Russian army to attack Kiev on Saturday night.

© Efrem Lukatsky/AP/dpa

Update from February 26, 00:54:

With a view to the Russian attack on Ukraine, the states of Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria blocked their respective airspaces for Russian airlines on Saturday night.

The Polish government said the ban would come into effect at midnight.

The Czech Minister of Transport, Martin Kupka, said that no Russian aircraft would be allowed to cross his country after midnight.

Ukraine conflict: Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria block airspace for Russian airlines

The Ministry of Transport in Sofia also reported the closure of the airspace.

Russian aircraft "are no longer allowed to fly into Bulgaria's sovereign airspace, not even over its sovereign waters," said the Ministry of Transport in Sofia.

Update from February 25, 11:35 p.m .:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj expects the Russian army to attack Kiev on Saturday night.

In a statement late Friday evening, he called on the population to resolutely defend the capital.

"The fate of the country is being decided right now," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects the Russian army to attack Kiev on Saturday night.

© Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP/dpa

Update from February 25, 11:13 p.m .:

According to US findings, the Russian army brought soldiers and equipment ashore with amphibious warships from the sea near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the Ukraine war.

Such ships do not need a port to land.

When asked if he had any information on such an attack near Mariupol, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Friday: "We believe that such an attack will be carried out today." However, the US has no precise information on the progress of the operation, said Kirby.

Ukraine conflict comes to a head in Kiev - renewed bomb alert

Update from February 25, 10:29 p.m .:

In the Ukraine conflict, the situation did not calm down late Friday evening.

The media are again reporting sirens and bomb alarms in the capital Kiev.

The city administration announced via Telegram that residents were asked to go immediately to the nearest air raid shelter.

First report from February 25, 9:55 p.m.:

Kiev – The Ukraine conflict is also taking place in the capital Kiev.

Kiev's Mayor Vitali Klitschko has now warned the residents of the city of over a million people about a "very difficult night".

The former world boxing champion wrote on Telegram: "The situation is threatening for Kiev - without exaggeration." Russian troops are near the capital, and the city's bridges are secured with soldiers.

There are checkpoints not only at the city limits.

Ukraine conflict/Kiev: Klitschko reports on explosions, Kuleba on rocket attacks

According to Klitschko, there were five explosions three to five minutes apart in the evening.

At first it was unclear what exactly had happened.

There were several air raid alarms in Kiev on Friday.

Yevgenia (name changed by the editor), a contact for our editorial office* who is currently in Kyiv, reports shots, burning buildings and dead civilians.

"Russian tanks are in front of Kiev." Friday was the worst day so far, says Yevgenia.

Russia began attacking the Ukrainian capital during the night.

"We fight all day and all night."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported "horrific Russian rocket attacks" on the capital.

According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fled after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

This image from the Photo Alliance photo agency shows a building damaged by an explosion in Kiev.

Russian troops have launched the expected attack on Ukraine © Maia Mikhaluk/PA Media/dpa

Ukraine conflict: Russian army advances to Kiev - air strikes across the country

On Friday there were airstrikes across Ukraine.

In several large cities, including Kiev, people also fled to subway stations for protection.

Ukrainian troops entered Kiev to defend the capital.

This map illustrates where the Ukraine War is raging and this map shows the areas already conquered in the Ukraine War.

According to official figures, four people were killed and 15 injured in an airstrike in the Kiev region.

Videos on social networks show fighting in a residential area in northern Kiev.

The pictures show, among other things, how a tank rolls over a car whose occupant is then rescued.

From Kharkiv in the east of the country, the media and local residents reported explosions.

At Cherson in the south, Russian troops broke through Ukrainian defenses and crossed the Dnipro River.

This is explosive because it is feared that Russian troops could advance to Odessa - a strategically important port city on the Black Sea coast.

According to Ukrainian sources, Russian soldiers fired rockets at Odessa from the sea on Friday.

Infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region is also affected.

Several observation posts were damaged.

Ukraine conflict: USA reports "loss of momentum" in Russia - NATO activates defense plans

On Friday evening, meanwhile, there were reports from the United States that Russia's invasion of the Ukraine conflict is happening more slowly than planned.

Russia has made less progress than expected, reports US broadcaster Fox News, citing a US adviser.

"The Russians have lost a bit of their momentum," said an unnamed US defense official.

The war goes on.

The same goes for diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

The West continues to impose sanctions on Russia.

So Russia was suspended by the Council of Europe.

The Swift payment system remains a point of contention in German Russia policy.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not want to exclude Russia for the time being.

Meanwhile, NATO has activated its defense plans - and deployed troops to deter Russia.

And what does Vladimir Putin* do?

The Kremlin has officially submitted an offer for negotiations in the Ukraine conflict, albeit with the strict condition that the Ukrainian army surrender.